“The number of taxis is sufficient! », affirms Jean-Philippe Souchon, member of the federation of independent taxis in the Rhône 69. This Monday, he is in front of the hotel of the metropolis of Lyon with some 200 other taxi drivers of the territory. “We went up to 400,” he says. Their demands? “We are opposed to a single person deciding to create licenses, without any justification”, advances the one who has been in the business for thirty-two years.
In his viewfinder, Jean-Charles Kohlaas, vice-president of the metropolis, in charge of travel, intermodality and urban logistics. The elected official announced his desire to issue around fifty new taxi licenses, called “parking authorization” (ADS), to “lower the rental price”. These licenses are free and non-transferable, unlike those on the market, the sale price of which can reach 180,000 euros and 1,900 per month, depending on the metropolis.
For the trade unionist, “this is not the right solution”. “The cake is made for 1,400 slices [le nombre d’ADS actuel]. It doesn’t get bigger and more and more of us are eating it [notamment avec l’arrivée des chauffeurs VTC]. With this measure, it is the death of our profession, ”supports Jean-Philippe Souchon. He thus offers “other solutions”, such as “regulating rents” for “the handful of renters who abuse”.
A “business” around licenses?
To make themselves heard, the taxi drivers entered the building of the metropolis and managed to have an appointment with President Bruno Bernard. An action that “strongly condemns” Yacine Grici, president of the “taxi union struggle”, strictly opposed to the mobilization of the day. He represents “the tenants”. Just over 250 have joined his union, created a year ago, around this issue.
In the business for five years, Yacine Grici notes, for his part, that the territory “seriously lacks taxis”. “Refusing to see him is madness,” he says. The driver also points to “the business” around licenses: “prices have doubled in four years. In 2019, we were still at 80,000 for the purchase and 800 euros per month for rentals, which represent more than 50% of the business. It is necessary to put some order in there. Some of us have to work eighteen hours a day to be able to pay our rent. “According to him, it would have taken 200 licenses in Lyon since 1995 to “give meaning” to the activity but for twenty-eight years, “there has been none”.
“About fifty licenses in two or three years”
Faced with these findings, the metropolis therefore wants to use thearticle 3 of the Thévenoud lawwhich since 2014 has allowed “to study the evolution of the supply of taxis […] and proposes, if necessary, ways of reforming the procedure for issuing parking permits in order to take account of demand and meet the mobility needs of the population”.
“Since 2012, the number of taxi licenses has not changed, even though the population of the metropolis has increased by more than 100,000 inhabitants and tourist overnight stays have increased by around 25%”, advances Jean- Charles Kohlaas to justify his decision. Before adding: “the metropolis has been meeting all the unions every three months for more than a year to find compromises. The current situation is no longer livable. There are over 1,000 people on the waiting list. We then plan to create about fifty ADS over a period of two or three years. It is a way, in our opinion, to give a little oxygen to the profession. The goal is also to stop this speculation which is of no use to taxis. If we do not change the current rules, the situation will benefit VTCs and I doubt that this is what professionals in the sector want. »
If the community does not follow through on its commitments, the taxi union struggle will seize the administrative court, its president has already indicated. The departmental federation of independent taxis, meanwhile, calls for a new mobilization on Tuesday.